There are a few, a very scant few, apps I use on the phone. If your product requires me to use an app to use it, thanks but no thanks.
How I do things is a bit old school. I use a browser. On a laptop. A rather nice 15 inch screen. It keeps my lap warm.
I have a love hate relationship with the pharmacy. I won't name and shame them but the nearest one to me. That one with three letters. They try to pretend they care by slapping a valentines heart on everything.
Yeah, that one.
They text me frequently. I groan and wait until I get home. Then I type that Random Scrabble Tile nonsense into the browser and hope I got it right. The message tells me that I have to go to the store and pick up a bottle of something and so forth.
Blah. You should see what I go through with Doctors Offices. Three Hospital networks with their coterie of doctors.
Sure I could click on the link and try to see it but the Lasik I had years ago means that I am learning my own limitations. My eyesight is better than 20/20. That is down from where it was shortly after the operation. I was the guy in the car who was reading street signs for miles down the road.
Yeah, I am amazed at that too.
Not any more, I'm like everyone else. I got Lasik because my astigmatism got so bad that I could not get stronger contacts and as active as I am I did not want to wear "Coke Bottle Glasses". I mean, come on, can you imagine getting on inline skates and skating 30 miles in a workout with those things balancing on your nose?
Me either.
My training in IT and computers taught me how to limit my exposure to ads and other waste of time things on the web. My laptop is so locked down that when I see an ad on a website, I laugh and do a search and destroy.
My next step is to block certain large websites and surf in a virtual machine but that is a long term goal. Remember, Fellow Babies, a well tuned Hosts File is your friend as well as a strong ad blocker.
When I look at videos of electric cars with an app to get a refueling I cringe. One for each network. Multiple networks both here and in Europe. The car has it's own app.
I'll stick with my 23 year old Jeep Wrangler for now, thanks. It's not perfect, and the check engine light has been on since before 2010, but I know what the code is and... Meh. Not worried. Gas Cap, indeed!
Each of those apps has a part that runs in background and almost all of you leave that part running. The app is phoning home and telling them what you are doing but I really have to ask Why? Getting served ads for what you were talking about "in private"? CBC is doing a podcast about that one, the presenter was talking about "Pickleball" and later getting served all sorts of ads about Pickles, Balls, and Pickleball.
It seems like spyware is not too picky.
Yes, this is what I listen to at 5 AM staring at the dog across the pool wearing nothing more than my boxer shorts, shivering in the pre-dawn coolness.
"Come on, Rack! Get your business done and water the Mango Tree!"
So for now, keep your apps. The one that I have that controls my headphones wants an update that I think I will ignore. A-Couple-Hundred-Megs so I can translate speech into English.
Yeah, so how do you do that without listening in on what I am doing here? No wonder why they want you to use Bluetooth for headphones.
No. Thank. You. I turned off auto-update on the phone ages ago and my laptop is Linux so it only updates when I tell it to. Remember what that was like, Windows users? Did your Mac take a powder last time you did an update? I don't.
Yes. I do enjoy controlling my own experiences. Don't you? Since I can't limit my exposure to that sort of spyware and nasty program by removing it from the phone, I limit my time using the phone. They are hard for me to read anyway even on the "big boy" sized phone I am using.
Being as big as I am, even using the app is problematic. Don't get me started with trying to use a touch screen with the tiny little buttons on a glass screen. Just does not work well. Like typing with your elbow.
Since I have problems using the touch screen in every case, even on my oven to set the timer, I think I'll skip it all. Give me physical buttons and skip the app.
Yes, all of this is a bit of a rant. It takes a significant amount of discipline. But every journey begins with a single step. Strap on your Big Boy shoes and begin your own trip.
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